BLACKSBURG, Va. — Pitt’s starting five has stacked up well against the best of the ACC all year, but on Saturday night, it was a different story.
Against Virginia Tech, the starting five just could not stay on the floor.
Amidst one of his strongest offensive performances of the year, Pitt forward Federiko Federiko picked up three fouls in a span of 23 seconds early in the second half, sending him to the bench. Shortly after, Pitt lost two more of its starters to the bench for extended time, as Nelly Cummings and Blake Hinson picked up their fourth fouls each, allowing Virginia Tech to hold off the Panthers for the majority of the second half.
Pitt’s starters checked back in with just under seven minutes to go, hoping to lead the Panthers to their seventh-straight win.
A Nike Sibande layup cut the lead to just seven with two minutes go, but Virginia Tech — as it had done all night — responded. Late buckets from Mylyjael Poteat and Hunter Cattoor sealed the win for the Hokies.
The Panthers could never come within seven points of the Hokies throughout the entire half and Virginia Tech — led by Grant Basile and Sean Pedulla — closed out a 79-72 win.
Basile led the Hokies with a game-high __ points on the night, followed by Mylyjael Poteat’s 15 and Pedulla’s 12.
For Pitt, Jamarius Burton finished as the team’s leading scorer with 15 points
Pitt weathered the loud Virginia Tech crowd early with two-point buckets from Elliott and Cummings and a pair of free throws from Burton. However, the Hokies, led by Basile, Pedulla, and Justsyn Mutts, countered with a ferocious 18-2 run, building a double-digit lead and igniting the Cassell Coliseum.
Basile, the Hokies’ prized transfer out of Wright State, hit five of his seven first-half attempts — including three of his five three-point tries — en route to a team-best 13 first-half points. Mylyjael Poteat, Mutts, and Pedulla added a combined 24 in the frame to give the Hokies an 11-point lead at the break.
While the vulnerable Panthers were lacking size inside with their starting front court on the bench, they came out after Federiko’s fouls and hit three straight buckets, including a three by Greg Elliott which was just the Panthers’ second of the game.
Eight different players scored for Pitt in the second half, including both Diaz-Graham twins. The Panthers hung around with second-half contributions from from both Guillermo and Jorge, but could not get the deficit under seven points.
Despite his foul trouble, Federiko posted one of his best stat lines of the year, going 5 for 6 from the field to finish with 12 points.
With the win, Virginia Tech improved to 16-11 on the year and 6-10 in ACC play, while the Panthers fell to 19-8 and 12-4 in league play. The loss snaps the Panthers’ six-game winning streak.
Pitt now sits behind Virginia (13-3) and Miami (13-4) in the ACC standings with four games remaining ahead of the ACC Tournament. Pitt will take on Georgia Tech in its next matchup, starting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Feb. 21 back home at the Petersen Events Center.
Hard to win on the road and VT is Tough at home .. not that all a bad lose .. but they got 2 more Tough games on the road.. HTP 💙💛
VT knocked our players all over the gym, but we got 9 fewer foul shots and had players have to sit. VT only won by seven with all that help.
I’m still trying to figure out how Fredericko Frederiko got 3 fouls called on him in 24 seconds. That was a turning point in the game. Coach Capel wouldn’t talk about the officiating after the game
I’m still trying to figure out who “Frederico Fredericko” is. Your stupidity never disappoints
Hey Coach – you dont get bonus points saving your timeouts.
Pitt cut it to 5 in the 2nd half
Correction…..Pitt cut the VT lead in the 2nd half to only 5 points on a back to back baskets by GDG, with approx. 15 minutes left in the game. Making the score 45-40.
The twins got some valuable minutes and GDG played very well in his 14 minutes on the court. That experience could come in hand come post-season time, if we get a whistle happy officiating crew like this one again.